Click to play videoPatna: Every time Bihar goes to polls, politicians promise the people a clean government and a corruption-free political class.
The state’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar did the same when he ousted 15 years of Lalu-raj and was elected for the top job.
However, a few months into governance, Nitish Kumar’s claims of maintaining high moral standards in Bihar’s polity are ringing hollow.
Many ministers in his Cabinet have been embroiled in controversies, and CNN-IBN has learnt that one of the state's ministers is a declared absconder.
Energy minister Bijendra Yadav was declared an absconder by a Patna district court six years ago.
But he is still enjoying his tenure in the Nitish Kumar government with no qualms whatsoever.
One look at his nomination papers, of which CNN-IBN has managed to get a copy, reveals how he duped the Election Commission by concealing the fact that a case was pending against him and that he was an absconder.
"The Chief Minister will have to explain to the people how he has made an absonder a minister in his government," Congress spokesperson, Prem Chand Mishra, says.
A case of defamation had been filed against Yadav in 1992. However, despite several notices, he did not appear in court.
An arrest warrant and attachment of property was also issued by the court, but no action was ever taken against him.
The minister, on his part, is ever-ready with excuses.
"If the case would have been against me as an individual, I would have surely mentioned it in the affidavit. Anyways the court's verdict is not out yet," he said.
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